OCTOBER 4
1891(2nd of Tishrei, 5652): On the day the American Association plays its last game of the baseball season, Jews observe Rosh Hashanah
1908 (9th of Tishrei, 5669): In Houston Texas Adath Yshurun Kol Nidre Services begin at 6:30 p.m. and include a sermon entitled “What’s the Use?” which is delivered in English.
1909: Birthdate of James B. Prichard the University of Pennsylvania archaeologist who led six expeditions from 1956 to 1962 that excavated the remains of Gibeon which played a prominent role in many of the Biblical stories found in the first part of the second section of the TaNaCh – “Prophets.”
1976: Barbara Walters became the first woman co-anchor of a major network evening news program. Joining Harry Reasoner, on theABC evening news, she became the highest paid journalist, male or female up to that time. Reasoner, however, made it clear that he did not want to work with a co-anchor, and Walters only stayed with the show for a year and a half. Before joining ABC , Walters worked on NBC's Today Show for fifteen years, working her way up from a writer on the show to, in 1974, the program's first female co-host. In 1984 Walters became co-host of 20/20 news magazine where she remained until September 2004.Walters is renowned for her interviewing skills, and has interviewed every American President and First Lady since Richard and Pat Nixon. In November 1977 she arranged the first joint interview with Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Another "first" was her hour-long prime time interview with Fidel Castro, which has since been printed in half a dozen languages and shown all over the world. Today Walters is co-owner, co-executive producer, and co-host of The View on ABC .(As reported by Jewish Women’s Archives)
1976(10th of Tishrei, 5737): Yom Kippur
1977(22nd of Tishrei, 5738): Shemini Atzeret
610: Heraclius attacks Constantinople, overthrows the Byzantine Emperor Phocas Augustus and proclaims himself Emperor. The Christian Emperor attacked his Persian neighbors to the east with disastrous results. In 614, the advancing Persian Army under General Roizanes seized Jerusalem and gave it to the Jews to govern. Three years later Roizanes would change his mind but the 150,000 Jews of Palestine had enjoyed a brief taste of self-government. In an irony of history, Heraclius entered into an alliance with the Khazars, the people who would convert to Judaism two centuries later, and finally defeated the Persians’ This defeat brought Byzantine rule back to Jerusalem with the attendant negative consequences for the Jewish population.
1209: Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III In 1205 he announced: "God is not displeased, but, rather, finds it acceptable that the Jewish dispersion shall live under Catholic kings and Christian priests. He maintained that Jews were directly subject to Christians and declared that Jews were guilty of “intolerable sin” i.e. the killing of Christ "The Jews' guilt of the crucifixion of Jesus consigned them to perpetual servitude, and, like Cain, they are to be wanderers and fugitives. The Jews will not dare to raise their necks, bowed under the yoke of perpetual slavery, against the reverence of the Christian faith." As to Otto IV the only connection with the Jews appears to be artistic. In 1839, the German born Jewish painter Moritz Daniel Oppenheim would be commissioned to paint a portrait of Otto IV.Innocent III was no friend of the Jews.
1289: Birthdate Louis X, King of France from 1314 to 1316. Louis’s father, Phillip the Fair, had confiscated the property of his Jewish subjects and banished them from the kingdom in 1306. His son discovered that this was a bad business decision for the government. The confiscated property had less value than the taxes the Jews had been paying. Also, the Christians who had replaced the Jews were charging higher rates of interest when lending money. So, reluctantly, the man known as Louis the Stubborn permitted the Jews to return to the realm.
1535: The first complete English-language Bible (the Coverdale Bible) is printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale. Since the printing included “the Old Testament” this maybe the earliest translation of some version of the TaNaCh into English
1582: Pope Gregory XIII proclaims what is now called the Gregorian calendar which goes into effect with a ten day adjustment. The, the day after October 4 was October 15. The new calendar would slowly gained in popularity, but it was not until the twentieth century that such places as Russia finally adopted the “new calendar.” The eleven day wrinkle would present challenges for Jews who would convert their calendar and holiday observances to those of the calendars used in the societies in which they lived.
1669: The great Dutch painter Rembrandt passed away today. For more about Rembrandt and the Jewish people see:
1712: Utrecht banishes poor Jews
1768(23rdof Tishrei, 5529): Simchat Torah
1775(10thof Tishrei, 5536): First Yom Kippur during the American Revolution.
1791: As a sign of the support for the Dutch monarchy the Jews in the Netherlands joined in celebrating the marriage of the Prince of Orange (the future King William I) to his first cousin Frederica Louisa Wilhelmina..
1794(10thof Tishrei, 5555): Yom Kippur
1796(2NDof Tishrei, 5557): Israel Baer Kursheedt observed the second day of the Jewish New Year in religious solitude since he was the only Jew aboard the Simonhoff, an American brig sailing across the Atlantic to Boston, MA.
1800(15thof Tishrei, 5561): As Adams and Jefferson face off in the U.S. Presidential election to be held next month, Jews observe the first Sukkoth of the 19thcentury
1809: (25 Tishrei, 5570): On the secular calendar Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev - a great Chasidic Rebbe, leader and scholar – passed away. Born in 1740, he studied under Dov Baer the Maggid of Mezhirech, and became one of his close friends. Levi Yitzchak stressed the joy in serving God emphasizing the idea of connecting to God through fervent prayer. He always accentuated the good and the positive that was in people. Levi Yitzchak composed Chasidic music and is immortalized by his vivaciously optimistic parables. One of his sayings was, “Whether a man really loves God can be determined by his love for his fellow men.” Levi Yitzchak had his spiritual side, but he also was very much of this world. When he discovered the terrible working conditions of the young girls who were working in the factories baking matzoth, he declared, “The enemies of the Jews accuse us of baking matzoth with the blood of Christians. They are wrong. We are baking them with the blood of Jews.”
1813(10thof Tishrei, 5574): As Americans continue their fight with the British in the War of 1812, Yom Kippur is observed.
1822: Birthdate of Rutherford B Hayes, 19thPresident of the United States . To most Americans, Hayes is the winner the 1876 Hayes-Tilden election; an election in which the Democrat Tilden won the popular vote, but thanks to a twisted compromise was won by Hayes in the electoral college. For Jews the Hayes Presidency marked an even greater acceptance of the role of Jews in politics and American society. As evidence of this we find William Evarts, Secretary of State under Hayes, saying in an 1879 speech, “this government has ever felt a deep interest in the welfare of the Hebrew race in foreign counties” which was a green light for American Jews to urge the American government to use its auspices with governments of Eastern Europe on behalf of their oppressed Jewish citizens.
1825(22nd of Tishrei, 5586): Shemini Atzeret
1830: Creation of the state of Belgium. Jews are first reported to have lived in what is now Belgium in the first century when they settled their as part of the Roman Empire. The first phase of the Jewish community ended in the 14th century when the Jews were killed or forced to leave because of their alleged role in the bringing of the Black Plague. Jews returned in the 16thcentury. When the modern state of Belgium was created “Judaism was recognized immediately. Brussels , with a more French influenced Jewish community, had a higher rate of assimilation, while Antwerp , influenced by Yiddish and Flemish, retained traditional forms of Jewish life.” The independence of Belgium had been guaranteed by the Great Powers. In 1914, when German invaded Belgium as part of its plan to conquer France , the British felt compelled to declare war on the Germans. This was the final act that guaranteed the war would be a World War. Not only did the war bring suffering to the Jews of Europe (especially in the East) but as we know it paved the way for the WWII and the Shoah. So much history flows from one minor event on the calendar.
1832(10th of Tishrei, 5593): Yom Kippur
1838(15th of Tishrei, 5599): Sukkoth
1839: (25 Tishrei, 5600): Moshe (Moses) Sofer of Pressburg passed away. Born in 1762 in Germany, this famous Rabbi was also know as the Chatam Sofer from a name given to a collection of his writings. His last name, Sofer, means scribe in English, indicating that his family engaged in this time-honored important profession. He was invited to lead the Pressburg (Hungary ) community which he did with such success that it its yeshiva became one of the leading places of Jewish learning in Europe . One of the unique characteristics of his yeshiva was its emphasis on physical fitness. His students were required to swim in the Danube on a regular basis. He wrote a voluminous collection of Responsa called Chidushai Teshuvot Moshe Sofer(Novella and Responsa of Moses Sofer). It was divided into four parts containing 1377 Responsa. He was a strong supporter of rigid orthodoxy, especially pertaining to change in synagogue ritual. He stood in opposition to the Reform, Chasidic and embryonic Zionist movements. He did believe in supporting the existing community in Palestine and eventually, the Pressburg Yeshiva would relocate to Jerusalem under the leadership of his great-grandson.
1843(10th of Tishrei, 5604): Nine days before the founding of B’nai Brith in New York City, Jews observe Yom Kippur
1847: The Paris Opera began performing a revised version Fromental Halevy’s “Charles VI,” a grand opera in five acts.
1849(15thof Tishrei, 5610): As people from all over the world flock to California in search of newly discovered gold, Jews observe Sukkoth
1852: An article entitled “Germany” published today reported that the outbreak of cholera in Pomerania has struck the Jewish community with an even greater fury than the general population. The Jews of Pomerania have written to their co-religionists in Posen asking for assistance in dealing with this crisis.
1852: An article entitled “Sweden: Minutes and Disturbances” published today reported on violent attacks on Jews living in Stockholm. The violence lasted for three nights. They were caused by an article in the Voice of the People that “excited the populace against the Jews.” The editor of the paper was among those arrested by the police.
1853(2ndof Tishrei, 5614): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1854: A column styled "Foreign Items of Literary and Personal News" published today reported that a religious book entitled Life from the Dead by Israel Pick, a Jew from Bucharest who had converted to Christianity has been translated from German into English. After leaving Judaism and before becoming a Christian, Pick had spent time as Pantheist and an Atheist.
1856: Birthdate of Russian born American journalist and anarchist Abraham Isaak.
1858: In an article styled “The President and the Jews” published today teported that President Buchanan had made use of the phrase " all the nations of Christendom," in his answer to Queen Victoria’s message transmitted by the Atlantic Telegraph. This expression gave offence to Dr. Isidor Kalisch, rabbi of the Ben Jeshurun Congregation in the city of Milwaukee, who wrote to the President demanding an explanation. Isidor Kalisch was a German born Reform Rabbi who held a number of pulpits in a wide variety of American Cities, wrote a prayer book tailored to the needs of the American Jewish community and worked on behalf of women’s rights before his death in 1886.
1859: Swedish businessman and patron of the arts August Abrahamson married Eufrosyne Abrahamson
1862: The Jews of Baden were unconditionally emancipated. In spite of the fact that much of Prussia had removed the anti-Jewish disabilities years earlier, Baden had refused conditioning it on Jewish cession of outward characteristics. The Jews did not yield on this point and the emancipation took place.
1862(10th of Tishrei, 5623): Yom Kippur
1862: During the Civil War Union forces including Jewish soldiers from Indiana fight the second and last day of the Battle of Corinth where they face Southern forces that include Jewish soldiers from Mississippi.
1862: The Charleston (South Carolina) Mercury reported that, “yesterday was the commencement of Yom Kippur, or the Jewish Day of Atonement, one of the three great holy days observed by the sons of the sons of Israel throughout the world. These are the Passover, when the passage of the Israelites over the Red Sea is celebrated in the feast of unleavened bread, typical of the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Christian dispensation; the Feast of Tabernacles, to denote that the sons of Jacob once dwelt in tents in the wilderness; and the Day of the Atonement, when each Jew was enjoined to redeem his soul figuratively by the presentation of a half shekel, and nothing less or more, whether the presentee be rich or poor. The day is celebrated by the modern Jews by a strict fast. Their places of business are all closed, and their synagogues are all opened. On the eve of the great day the Holy Book of the Law is brought from the Ark with great ceremony and read by the hazan, or minister. Prayers are held in all the synagogues from that time till the next night — literally even to even — by the faithful Israelites, who are expected to [cleanse] their souls by abstaining from meat and drink. At the close of the day — that is the evening — a good lookout is kept for the first star, when the previous fast of twenty four hours gives way to a very sensible feast, and happy is he or she who first discovers that same first star.”
1864: In Brooklyn,Mr. Michael Jacobs brought charges against Patrolman George W. Osward claiming that “the officer had arrested him without cause, manacled him and been privy to the breaking of his furniture. It appeared that the complainant had beaten one of his fellow Jews and that the officer had pursued Mr. Jacobs into his house and had only handcuffed him after Jacobs had resisted the officer. A witness was introduced to show that the officer had arrested Jacobs for fighting, and it appeared that the combat rose from a dispute concerning religious matters, one of the disputants having characterized the other as an apostate Jew, and asserted that he had perjured himself three times in court.” Charges against the officer were dismissed since it was “clear that the officer had been guilty of no offence whatever.” In dismissing the complainant, the presiding officer of the court advised Mr. Jacobs to appeal to Rabbi Morris Raphall. Apparently the judge felt that Mr. Jacobs case was really a religious dispute and apparently Rabbi Raphall was well known in secular as well as Jewish circles.
1867(5thof Tishrei, 5628): Seventy-eight year old Eduard Kley an early leader of the Reform movement who replaced Bar Mitzvah with Confirmation and led services on Sunday passed away today in Hamburg, Germany.
1872(2ndof Tishrei 5633): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1872: It was reported today that the business places owned by Jews in Jersey City, New Jersey, were closed yesterday because of Rosh Hashanah.
1874(23rdof Tishrei, 5635): Simchat Torah
1875: In Baltimore, MD, Dr. Phillip Moses Russell and Esther (Mordecai) Russell to Judith Russell Nathans.
1875: It was reported today that the Board of Education of Chicago has been dealing with the issue of the Bible in public schools. Catholics, Jews and non-sectarians are opposed to the reading. Baptist and Methodist leaders have been quite outspoken in their opposition to the removal of Bible readings from the opening class ceremonies. The issue has drawn national attention including comments from Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler who thinks that Christianity could benefit from the removal of Scripture from the public schools.
1875: It was reported today that the Governor of Baghdad has sent a telegram to the Porte (Ottoman Empire) denying a report that a Turks living in that city had murder a Jew.
1876: Texas A&M University opens as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, becoming the first public institution of higher education in Texas. By 1916, there were enough Jews on campus to justify the formation of an organization dedicated to their needs. It was called the TAMC Menorah Club and it was organized by Dr. Jacob Joseph Taubenhaus, a native of Safed who was chief of the plant pathology and physiology division of the school from 1916 to 1937. In 1920, the club became the TAMC Hillel Club technically making it the oldest Hillel House in the United States; older even than the Hillel at the University of Illinois which was not founded until 1923 and is usually credited with being the first Hillel House.
1877: The Budapest University of Jewish Studies (Landesrabbinerschule) opened today.Rabbi Wilhelm Bacher, a noted Orientalist who had been named to a professorship at the school, delivered the inaugural address. The seminary was funded by the government to promote “Neolog Judaism” a mildly reformist movement. The school taught a mixture of Judaism and Hungarian culture that would help the Jews be ardent Hungarian nationlists.
1877: It was reported today that in the last fortnight, 500 Jews who are fleeing from “the cruelties and persecutions” of the Bulgarians have sought refuge in Wallachia. The Bulgarians had stolen everything from the Jews who owed their lives to detachments of The Russian Army who took them across the border where they could be cared for by their Romanian co-religionists. The Romanian Jews have already shown their generosity by providing funds for the purchase of field ambulances to be used by the army. Their behavior put “to shame the noisy but empty protestations” of “the Christian wearers of the Geneva Cross.” [This is a reference to the Red Cross. The events described took place during the Russo-Turkish War.]
1877: It was reported today that the term Israelite “is being substituted for the insulting expression” of Pharisee “long…in use to designate the chosen people. According to one author “an Israelite was only a Jew who had made a fortune.”
1878: Harry Marks was named editor of “The Jewish Journal,” a weekly publication that had first appeared in 1869.
1878: Birthdate of Selmar Aschheim, the Berlin born gynecologist who developed a pregnancy test that bears his name. He fled Nazi Germany in 1933 but survived the war. He passed away in 1965.
1882(21stof Tishrei, 5643): Hoshanah Rabah
1884(15thof Tishrei): Sukkoth
1884: As of today, the Church Missionary Society has spent $600,000 since 1851 and the London Jews’ Society has spent $150,000 since 1877 on “missions to the Jews of Palestine and neither has a single convert to show for the money spent.
1884: Birthdate of American writer Damon Runyon. Runyon was not Jewish. But he was the writer who brought a certain slice of New York life to America; a slice of life often connected with the Jewish subculture. Runyon was a native of Manhattan, Kansas that is, but he was able to bring to life the ethnic existence of Manhattan, New York, including Mindy’s cheese cake and Nathan Detroit who was modeled after Arnold Rothstein. But Runyon could also be a serious defender of Jews when attacked by anti-Semites. When Jews were vilified as cowards Runyon used the heroics of Sergeant Sam Dreben to express his feelings in a now-famous poem, "The Fighting Jew." In this poem, Runyon wrote that whenever he read about prejudices against the Jews and of racial hatred, he was reminded of the heroic fighting Jew, Sam Dreben. He was also reminded of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre, the Militare and other medals that were awarded to Sergeant Dreben. Runyon ended his poem with: “THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE A FEW, LIKE DREBEN A JEW. The Broadway musical and movie, “Guys and Dolls” was based on characters created by Runyon
1884: Alexander Edelstein, an English born Jew who had come to the United States about 15 months ago, was arrested on charges of having collected commission from his employer on “bogus orders.”
1885: The sanctuary at Temple Emanu-El in New York City was completely filled with mourners who had come to attend this afternoon’s memorial service in honor of the late Sir Moses Montefiore.
1886: Police Inspector Wood is to be arrested and arraigned on charges related to the death of Max Aronson who was allegedly beaten by the police who then denied him medical attention.
1887: Publication of “Jews in Shushan” by Rudyard Kipling
1889(9thof Tishrei, 5650): Erev Yom Kippur
1889: Insomnia and fear of suffering major loss due to the crackdown on gambling house was the reason given today for the death of Jewish businessman Joseph M. Marchus who shot himself yesterday in front of the Orleans Parish Prison.
1889: “The Fast of Yom Kippur” published today described the rituals of “the Day of Atonement” during which the Orthodox practices a 24 hour fast that “allows neither food nor drink to pays his lips;” an observance of which “has fallen into disuse among the Reform Jews.”
1889: “About five hundred members and guests of the Pioneers of Liberty, an organization recently formed by the United Hebrew Trades” were turned away from Clarendon Hall tonight where they had expected to hear a concert and dance at a ball. The disappointed revelers claimed that the manager of the hall been intimated into closing the venue by a group of Orthodox Jews.
1889: “Gamblers Commit Suicide” published today described the impact of New Orleans May Shakespeare’s closing of the gambling establishments in the Crescent City. Among those who apparently died by their own hand was a young Jew named Joseph Marcus who was “a silent partner” in one such establishment and was driven to this by fear of great economic loss.
1891(2nd of Tishrei, 5652): On the day the American Association plays its last game of the baseball season, Jews observe Rosh Hashanah
1891: In Alpena, Michigan, Temple Beth El hosted Rosh Hashanah services as part of the compromise between Orthodox and Reform members of the congregation.
1891: “Russia’s Persecuted Jews” published today includes a summary of the sermon given by Dr/ Max Landsberg, the Rochester rabbi who praised the articles written by Harold Frederic and published by the New York Times that provided a first hand of the wretched conditions under which Russian Jews are living.”
1891: Joseph Barondess, the former head of the Cloakmakers’ Union remained in jail today after having been returned from Canada. Barondess had been out on bail while he appealed his conviction on charges of extorting money from the city’s cloak manufacturers for which he was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Barondess claimed that he had only gone to Quebec to seek work since nobody would hire him in New York and that he had every intention of returning once he had earned some money.
1891: A list of courses to be offered by Cornell University published today included an “Introduction to a History of the Jews” taught by Dr. W.F. Wilcox, “Hebrew Poetry” taught by Dr. O.F. Emerson who will apply “sympathetic literary criticism” to a study of Job and Psalms and “The Book of Samuel,” a course open only to women. (Editor’s note – no reason is given for this)
1891: Abraham Langer, a Jew who owns a poultry shop on Ridge Street was robbed while driving his wagon tonight by two knife-wielding men while he was on his way to buy animals to sell to his customers.
1892: Captain Crémieu-Foa, the anti-Semitic French officer who had been transferred to Tunis to avoid any further duels with Jewish officers was part of the French force that attacked the rebels at Poguessa in Dahomey.
1893: “Dr. A. Stocker, Anti-Semite” published today described the arrival in New York of Adolf Stocker, the former chaplain at the court of the Kaiser who “is known throughout the civilized world as an ardent leader of the anti-Semitic agitation in Germany.”
1894: Max Moskowitz, the first witness to testify before the Lexow Committee, told about a friend of his who was arrested for selling sandwiches on a Sunday but was able to avoid jail time by paying “$2 to the doorman at the police station.”
1895: “Meeting of Rabbis in Cincinnati” published today described plans for the upcoming meeting of the Executive Committee of the Central Conference of Rabbis.
1898: “Realizing that he was dying Charles Koransky had hotel keeper Abraham Solomon summon his friend Jacob Janowitz to his bedside, who realizing how desperate the situation was called for an ambulance to take him Gouverneur Hospital.
1901(21st of Tishrei, 5662): Hoshanah Rabah
1903 (13th of Tishrei, 5664): Erratic Austrian author Otto Weininger passes away, apparently at his own hand.
1906 (15th of Tishrei, 5667): Sukkoth
1906 (15th of Tishrei, 5667): Alex Simon passed away. Simon was born in Konin , Poland , arrived in Brenham when Texas was still the Republic of Texas .. His arrival marked the beginning of the influential Simon family's involvement in the Brenham Jewish community. Alex Simon was one of the founders and builders of the B'nai Abraham Synagogue. He was also one of the principal investors in the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, "which brought Jewish immigrants up from Galveston through the Brazos River valley to Bryan and out to San Angelo ."
1908 (9th of Tishrei, 5669): In Houston Texas Adath Yshurun Kol Nidre Services begin at 6:30 p.m. and include a sermon entitled “What’s the Use?” which is delivered in English.
1909: Birthdate of James B. Prichard the University of Pennsylvania archaeologist who led six expeditions from 1956 to 1962 that excavated the remains of Gibeon which played a prominent role in many of the Biblical stories found in the first part of the second section of the TaNaCh – “Prophets.”
1909:First Enrollment of students for Dropsie College takes place in Philadelphia, Pa.
1909: Israel Effendi is appointed Chief of Police in Turkey.
1910(1stof Tishrei, 5671): As the world was racked with political upheaval in such disparate places as China, Mexico and Portugal, Jews observed Rosh Hashanah
1912(23rdof Tishrei, 5673): Simchat Torah
1914: The funeral for Rabbi Daniel Lowenthal is scheduled to take place today with interment in Mount Hope Cemetery, Cypress. Among the mourners are his widow, the former Miss Theresa Lichtenstein and his four children – Justice of the Peace Samson Lowenthal, Monroe Lowenthal, Leo B. Lowenthal and Mrs. Carl Levi.
1916: In Zurich, Paul Gluck-Friedman and Henia Shipper gave birth to Rose Gluck who as Rose Warfman survived Auschwitz and became “a heroine of the French Resistance.
1916: Birthdate of Vitaly Ginzburg, the Jewish born Soviet Physicist and Nobel Prize winner who was an avowed atheist.
1917: Birthdate of comedian Jan Murray.
1917: At a meeting of the British Cabinet, Edwin Montagu, the one Jew in the Lloyd George government, continued to express his opposition to what would become the Balfour Declaration. Under pressure from Montagu and his supporters Prime Minister Lloyd George and Lord Balfour watered down the original draft, modifying, among other things the strong statement “that Palestine should be reconstituted as the National Home of the Jewish People.”
1918: During World War I, U.S. Army Sergeant Benjamin Kaufman charged a German machine gun in the Argonne Forest that had pinned down his unit. He singlehandedly captured the gun and the crew despite the fact that his right arm had been shattered and by the time he reached his objective he was armed with a pistol that had no more bullets. For this he earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1918: In New York City, Rose Kantrowitz wife of general practitioner Bernard Abraham gave birth to U.S. heart surgeon and medical investigator Adrian Kantrowitz. Adrian Kantrowitz was responsible for pioneering developments in circulatory assist devices, artificial organs, medical electronics, heart transplantation, and research motion pictures.
1919(10thof Tishrei, 5680): Yom Kippur
1919: Birthdate of Baruch Spiegel, the son of a Warsaw leather maker who, would become one of the approximately 750 Jewish fighters who actually took part in the armed resistance known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and who escaped through the sewers to fight as partisan for the rest of WW II. (As reported by Joseph Berger)
1924: Birthdate of Donald J. Sobol, the Bronx native who created “Encyclopedia Brown, the clever boy detective.” (As reported by Denise Grady)
1925: Sir Harry Gloster Armstrong, the British Consul General at New York, addressed a meeting of the Paelstine Chamber of Commerce at the Hotel Pennsylvania. He “extolled the aspirations ehind the movement to develop the ancient hol land as national centre of the Jewish race.” Sir Harry reviewed the improving economic conditions in the country siting the “growth of industry and increase in imports.”
1925: Opening day of the Palestine-Near East Exhibition and Fair at Tel Aviv.
1928: Birthdate of Michael Steinberg. According to his obituary, Steinberg was an influential classical music critic, teacher, lecturer and author, and the pre-eminent program annotator of his day. Born in Breslau, Germany, Steinberg’s mother had him sent to safety in England through Kindertransport, the rescue mission that saved nearly 10,000 refugee Jewish children in the months before World War II. After the war, he, his mother and his elder brother lived in St. Louis. After Princeton, while studying in Italy on a Fulbright scholarship, Mr. Steinberg met his first wife, Jane Bonacker. They divorced in 1977, having had two sons, Sebastian and Adam. Later he married, Jorja Fleezanis, the concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra since 1989. Trained as a musicologist, with a degree from Princeton University, Mr. Steinberg spent his early career teaching music history at the Manhattan School of Music. He came to wide attention as the music critic for The Boston Globe for nearly 12 years, until 1976. While a critic he continued to teach at the New England Conservatory, Brandeis University and other colleges. His reviews were erudite and readable, his interests wide-ranging. He stood up for intellectually formidable composers at a time when a postmodernist backlash was taking root and also encouraged the early-music movement, which thrived in Boston during this period. He was a regular critic of the conductor Seiji Ozawa’s work at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra officials openly expressed their dismay with Mr. Steinberg’s critiques. So the Boston musical community was stunned when, in 1976, Mr. Steinberg accepted a position as program annotator for the Boston Symphony. It seemed as if he had switched camps. But according to Kathryn King, a public relations agent and friend, Mr. Steinberg had grown tired of reviewing. “For years,” she added, “he harbored a secret desire to write program notes for a major symphony and to serve as an artistic adviser or administrator.” His work as an annotator was immediately popular. Suddenly, reading Mr. Steinberg’s long, analytic program notes, rich with anecdotal information and historical context, became an essential part of attending a Boston Symphony concert. Yet it was not until 1979, when he became the publications director and artistic adviser of the San Francisco Symphony, a position he held for 10 years, that Mr. Steinberg had the opportunity to affect repertory and artistic policy. Mr. Steinberg’s program notes, full of vivid descriptions of pieces, were collected in a series of listeners’ guides: “The Symphony,” “The Concerto” and “Choral Masterworks,” published by Oxford University Press. His account of the “alien and terrifying” opening pages of the finale of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is typical. “From the thud of a low C,” Mr. Steinberg wrote, “there arises an encompassing swirl of strangely luminous dust: harp glissandos, a woodwind chord, and chains of trills on muted strings.” He died of colon cancer at the age of 80 at his home in Edina, Minnesota, outside of Minneapolis.
1929 (29thof Elul, 5689): Jews prepare to observe Rosh Hashanah as they say farewell to the year on the Jewish calendar that marked the start of the Great Depression with the Stock Market Crash.
1932: Anti-Semite Julius Gombos forms new a government in Hungary
1933: In a bid to control the media and drive the Jews from German cultural life, the newly empowered Nazi government promulgated the Newspaper Editors' Law. It made Aryan origin a prerequisite for anyone editing a German newspaper.
1936(18th of Tishrei, 5697): Fourth Day of Sukkoth – Chol Hamoed
1936(18th of Tishrei, 5697): Jess Isidor Straus, a member of the Straus family best known for its ownership of R.H. Macy & Co passed away. Born in 1872, he was the son of Isidor Strauss who died on the Titanic and the nephew of Nathan Straus for whom Netanya is named. He was an early supporter of Franklin Roosevelt who appointed named him U.S. Ambassador to France in 1933, a post he held until just before his death.
1936: In London, formation of Jewish People’s Council
1936:“The Battle of Cable Street took place in Cable Street in the East End of London. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police Service, overseeing a legal march by the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, and anti-fascists, including local Jewish, groups. The majority of both marchers and counter-protesters travelled into the area for this purpose. Mosley planned to send thousands of marchers dressed in uniforms styled on those of Blackshirts through the East End of London, which had a large Jewish population. “It was a defining moment in British and Anglo-Judaic history, not least for making the government bring in legislation that crippled right wing activity, including a ban on political uniforms, pre World War II.” This watershed moment in Anglo-Jewish history would be the subject of a film made seventy years after the event and has been memorialized by the Jews of London’s East End .
1936: “More than 3,000 members of Greater New York units of Junior Hadassah” gathered “in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor...to open its fall program and membership drive. “Shulamith Schwartz who had served as head of the organization and has been teaching in Tel Aviv for the last two years was the principal speaker for the evening.
1937: The Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service is scheduled o begin a drive today designed to raise $250,000. John M. Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co and the grandson of Jacob Schiff, is chairman of the fund raising effort.
1937: The Palestine Post reported that the Mandatory Government applied emergency regulations to appoint press censors. Editors were specifically ordered to refrain from any comment on the recent banning of the Arab Higher Committee and on the deportation of the top Arab leaders. The cruiser Sussex carried the Arab deportees out to the sea, where they were transshipped to a British destroyer and moved to an unknown destination.
1938(9thof Tishrei, 5699): Erev Yom Kippur
1940(2ndof Tishrei, 5701): Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
1940: Hitler and Mussolini met at the Brenner Press, an opening in the Alps between Austria and Italy to celebrate the success of the Axis powers.
1940: German law gives Vichy France the power to imprison Jews even inside the Unoccupied Zone.
1941: The Bulgarians enforced an extraordinary measure that prohibited the Jews of Macedonia from engaging in any type of industry or commerce. All existing Jewish businesses had three months to transfer ownership to non-Jews or sell their assets and close down.
1941(13th of Tishrei, 5702): Fifteen hundred Jews from Kovno, Lithuania, are transported to the Ninth Fort and murdered. In Kovno proper, Nazis lock the Jewish hospital and set it ablaze, incinerating all inside.
1941: Birthdate of author Jackie Collins, sister of Joan Collins.
1942: Berlin orders that all Jews in concentration camps within Germany be deported to Auschwitz .
1943: At Poznan ; Himmler addressed his senior SS staff re-stating the goals of the Final Solution. "I mean the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish race.” Within the year, as Soviet troops advanced across Eastern Europe, the SS would work to destroy the evidence of their evil deeds.
1943: During World War II, a tanker christened the SS Oscar S. Straus, one of a fleet of “liberty ships” that helped the US win the war of logistics was launched today.
1943: Approximately 200 Danish Jews were not able to escape to Sweden were heading toward Danzig after having been loaded into two cattle cars without food or water by the Nazis.
1944: All the women and children sent from Theresienstadt to Birkenau on this day would eventually be killed.
1944: Rabbi Yehuda Amital was liberated from a Nazi labor camp by the Soviet Army.
1944: Al Smith passed away. Smith began life as a genuine reformer. In the aftermath of the Triangle Shirt factory, he supported an array of measures designed to improve the lot of the workers, many of whom were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe . At least one of his campaign managers during his successful bid for the governorship of New York was Jewish. Smith was the first Catholic candidate Presidential candidate in 1928. His 1928 bid for the Presidency presaged the collation that would lead to the election of Roosevelt in 1932. Smith’s defeat and FDR’s victory seem to sour Smith politically and he swung to the right, joining the Liberty League and becoming a staunch critic of the New Deal and the Jews who helped to create it.
1945: U.S. premiere of “Week-End At The Waldorf” based on Vicki Baum’s novel Grand Hotel with a script co-written by Bella Spewack.
1945: The Ampal American Palestine Trading Corporation of New York, an organization designed “to develop trade relations between the United States and Palestine and to assist in the development of the economic resources of Palestine” registered a stock offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale of the stock is intended to provide working capital to Ampal American to meet its goals.
1946: Final plans were announced today for the construction of Givat (Mount) Washington, settlement designed to provide a home and training for more than 100 Jewish orphans who survived the Holocaust. Givat Washington will be located outside of Tel Aviv near the ancient town of Yavneh. The program has been spearheaded by Rabbi Zemach Green of Washington, D.C. Givat Washington is named in honor of the first President of the United States and fragments of stone from Mt. Vernon, the U.S. Capitol building and the White House are to be set in the foundation stone of the first edifice built on this site.
1946 (9th of Tishrei, 5707): Erev of Shabbat and Erev Yom Kippur
1946: On the eve of Yom Kippur, “President Truman issued the customary presidential statement of greeting to American Jewry, but then went on to urge that ‘substantial’ refugee immigration into Palestine commence immediately, for the plight of the Displace Persons ‘cannot await a solution to the Palestine problem.’”
1947: German physicist Max Plank passed away. Planck was not Jewish. He did try and use his influence to save Jewish scientists from Hitler’s fury. His son was executed for taking part in the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.
1948 (1st of Tishrei, 5709): Rosh Hashanah
1948 (1st of Tishrei, 5709): If Jewish history were a soap opera this episode would be called “Golda goes to the Synagogue”. Golda Meir was the newly appointed Israeli ambassador to the Soviet Union . Israel had just won its independence in May of 1948 (and the fighting was still going on). The Soviet Union was in the throes of anti-Semitism. Mrs. Meir went to the Grand Synagogue in Moscow . At best, they expected the usual 2,000 Jews to attend Rosh Hashanah services. Instead, she was greeted by a crowd of 50,000 who pressed in upon in Joyous disbelief. And this was at a time when such behavior could get you to a trip to the Gulag. The fact that the so many people were still Jewish and willing to risk so much to identify was living proof that despite the adversity of the Holocaust and the Stalinists Am Yisroel Chai - the Jewish people live.
1951: Birthdate of American actor Alan Rosenberg.
1951: “The Dybbuk,” an opera in three acts composed by David Tamkin in 1933 that uses an English libretto by Alex Tamkin, the composer's brother, which is based on S. Ansky’s Yiddish play of the same name premiered today with a performance by the New York City Opera. 1952(15thof Tishrei, 5713): Sukkoth
1956(29th of Tishrei, 5717): A group of Bedouin from the West Bank ambushed five Israelis near Sdom and murdered them. Moshe Dayan wanted to mount a reprisal raid.
1959(2ndof Tishrei, 5720): Second day of Rosh Hashanah but the first time that the shofar is blown because the first of Tishrei fell on Shabbat
1959: On NBC Sunday Showcase, Larry Blyden starred as Sammy Glick in the second part of the two-part television broadcast of “What Makes Sammy Run” based on the novel by Budd Schulberg.
1965: Pope Paul VI arrived in New York City , making him the first pope in history to visit the United States . While speaking at the UN, Paul published a document exonerating the Jews of all blame in the death of Jesus Christ.
1965(8th of Tishrei, 5726): Fifty four year old former Congressman Ludwig Teller Passed away.
1967(29thof Elul, 5727: Erev Rosh Hashanah
1967(29thof Elul, 5727): Six years after his son Margalit died in automobile accident Ariel Sharon suffers another loss when his eleven year old son Gur is mortally wounded while he and friend are playing with an old shotgun
1967: Birthdate of American actor Leiv Schreiber.
1970: Birthdate of Abraham Benrubi, the American actor playing on ER and in the movie Open Range.
1973: Ashraf Marwan telephoned Dubi, his Mossad contact, from Paris and told him about a Libyan plan to shoot down an El Al plane in the French capital using a shoulder-held missile.
1973: Israeli newspapers reported that Colonel Kaddafi of Libya was sending terrorist squads to stage acts of terrorism in both Israel and Jordan.
1973: The Israeli cabinet met to discuss the Austrian government’s decision to close down the refugee camp at Schoenau where many Soviet Jews were waiting to continue their escape to Israel. The Austrian decision was the result of a Arab terrorist attack on a train carrying Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union to Austria.
1973: At lunch with General Ze’evi Moshe Dayan said, “There’s not going to be a war. Not this summer and not this fall.” [Yom Kippur was two days away.]
1976: Barbara Walters became the first woman co-anchor of a major network evening news program. Joining Harry Reasoner, on the
1976(10th of Tishrei, 5737): Yom Kippur
1977(22nd of Tishrei, 5738): Shemini Atzeret
1977: Birthdate of award winning actress Alicia Silverstone.
1982: Birthdate of Omer Goland, who “who plays as a striker for Maccabi Petah Tikva”
1982(17th of Tishrei, 5743): Lefty Rosenthal, the talented professional gambler and gangster-when-necessary who had brought sports betting to casinos in Las Vegas and illicitly run an empire of four hotel casinos, walked out of Tony Roma’s on East Sahara Avenue with an order of takeout ribs. He had just finished dinner with some fellow handicappers, and he was bringing the food home for his two children. When he got into his car, it blew up. Mr. Rosenthal survived the explosion — later he could not remember whether he had turned the ignition key — but the attempt on his life, for which no one was ever prosecuted, ended his career as one of the most powerful men in Las Vegas. He left the city early the next year and on Monday, at home in Miami Beach , he died. He was 79 and had lived in Florida since the late 1980s. Rosenthal was a born to a Jewish family in Chicago .
1983: As the Israel Bank Stock Crisis enters its third day went on television saying that the behavior of the pubic “would not bring about a devaluation” of the currency “or any change in policy.”
1985: U.S. premiere of “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” with music by Philip Glass.
1990(15thof Tishrei, 5751): Sukkoth
1992(7th of Tishrei, 5753): An El Al Boeing 747-200F crashed into 2 apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 38 on the ground.
1992: Yad Vashem recognized Destan Balla and his wife, Lime Balla, as Righteous Among the Nations.
1993: Hamas was responsible for a car bombing near Beit El that injured 29 people.
1995(10thof Tishrei, 5756): Yom Kippur
1995: U.S. premiere of “Kicking and Screaming” directed by Noah Baumbach and co-starring Eliot Gould
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of Kaddishby Leon Wieseltier and With Roots In Heaven: One Woman's Passionate Journey Into the Heart of Her Faithby Tirzah Firestone. Six years ago, Tirzah Firestone was ordained as a rabbi. With Roots in Heaven, her relentlessly earnest autobiography, details her forays into Eastern, mystical and New Age religions as she forges an identity as a Jew prepared to teach and judge in matters of Jewish life and law. Beginning with the years of permissiveness following her ''middle-class Jewish ghetto'' of an Orthodox upbringing, Firestone recounts her spiritual and physical flirtations; they are frequently intertwined. With Ron in Istanbul , she eschews bourgeois materialism and explores ''The Autobiography of a Yogi.'' In Denver , Firestone falls for the ''dark charisma and exotic religion'' of a Hindu known as Everlasting. Firestone is soon primed for Fredrick, a gentle Christian minister with a mystical bent, who slowly redirects her to Jewish mysticism. In 1985, the minister marries the future rabbi. The two ''love warriors, holding high the standard of our universal beliefs,'' mean to serve as an ecumenical example. A Jungian, Firestone judges her every experience to hold not only symbolism for her, but also a key to the spiritual destiny of mankind. Typical of her preachy efforts to uncover this universality is her interpretation of dreams. While the lessons Firestone draws from her life are heartfelt, she may misjudge the scope of her experience. Meanwhile, Kaddish is one of the best books written on this topic and the Theodore Bikel recording is a classic that nobody should miss hearing.
2001: As of tonight, signatures were still being collected for a letter to be delivered to President Bush tomorrow expressing support for the administration's war on terrorism and policy efforts in the Middle East. Among those who had already signed the letter are Marvin Lender, the former chairman of the United Jewish Appeal; Jacob Stein, another former chairman of the Conference of Presidents; Judith Stern Peck, former chairwoman of UJA-Federation of New York; and Joel Tauber, the departing chairman of United Jewish Communities. A number of corporate executives also signed the letter, including Stanley Gold, the president of Shamrock Investments; and 2003 (8th of Tishrei, 5764): During the continuing wave of Arab terrorism there was a suicide bombing at Maxim restaurant, a popular eatery for Israeli Jews and Arabs. It was a symbol of the multiculturalism of this seaside city. A Palestinian suicide bomber, exploded inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. Among the dead were 21 Israeli, Jews and Arabs. Another 51 were wounded
2001: Following the issuance of a report by the Comptroller, Ariel Sharon returned 1.5 million NIS to his donors.
2003 (8th of Tishrei, 5764): Shabbat Shuvah
2003: Islamic Jihad claimed credit for todays’ suicide bombing at the Maxim Restaurant in Haifa that killed 21 and injured 51 including a two-month old baby.
2005(1st of Tishrei, 5766): First Day Rosh Hashanah
2005: Haaretz reported that thousands of Israelis had canceled trips to the Sinai in light of previous terrorist attacks and threats of renewed violence.
2006:Former Jewish Agency chairman Sallai Meridor was appointed as the next ambassador to Washington, replacing Danny Ayalon who has completed four years of service in the US capital.
2006:Yiftah Ron-Tal, the general in charge of the IDF Ground Forces Command “said publicly that IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz should accept responsibility for malfunctions in the Israel-Hezbollah War and accept the consequences” while also hinting “that Israeli PM Ehud Olmert should do the same.”
2006:Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz discharged Major General Iftach Ron-Tal the head of the IDF's ground forces over remarks he made calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
2007(22nd of Tishrei, 5768): Shemini Atzeret,
2007: In Budapest, the Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies celebrated its 130th anniversary today.
2008(5th of Tishrei, 5769): Shabbat Shuvah,
2008: Ninety-year old Saul Laskin, the former mayor of Thunder Bay passed away today.
2008: The musically gifted Eric Carson, son of Bill and Laura Carson, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids,
2009:St. John's Church at Lafayette Square winds up its three-part forum, "The Middle East: Moving Towards Peace?," with a lecture by David Ignatius, an associate editor at The Washington Post.
2009(16th of Tishrei, 5770): 2nd Day of Sukkoth
2009: The Washington Post features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Hardball by Sara Paretsky
2009: The New York Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including We’ll Be Here For The Rest of Our Lives:A Swingin’ Show-Biz Saga by Paul Shaffer with David Ritz
2009: The Los Angeles Times features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Notes on Sontag by Phillip Lopate, and Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon
2009: The Times of London features reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present by Yevgeny Primakov
2009:Vandals destroyed or damaged hundreds of archaeological artifacts at Uvdat National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Negev tonight.
2010:YIVO Institute for Jewish research is scheduled to present a program entitled Chaim Grade Memorial on the 100th Anniversary of his Birth” that will include a screening of the film The Quarrel. The Quarrel is an English Language film based on Grade's story "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner."
2010:Today, the state archives released hitherto unseen copies of minutes of Prime Minister Golda Meir's meeting with her war cabinet on the second day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
2010(26thof Tishrei, 5771):Eighty-seven year old Sidney J. Weinberg Jr.,” a senior director of Goldman Sachs and a member of the family dynasty that had played a central role at the investment banking firm since 1907” passed away today. (As reported by Dennis Hevesi)
2010: Dr. Janet Yellen completed her terms as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
2010: Dr. Janet Yellen began serving as the Vice Chairperson of the Federal Reserve System
2010: Israel and the United States are holding behind-the-scenes talks geared at resolving a recent deadlock in Mideast peace talks with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today, adding that peace was Israel's vital interest.
2011: Based on vacate notices signed by Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, chairman of Agudas Chasidei Chabad of the United States, and Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch today is the deadline for a group of gabbaim who have been promoting the idea that Menachem Mendel Schneerson (of blessed memory) is the messiah to vacate the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway. “A New York court ruled in 2006 that the groups led by Krinsky and Shemtov are the synagogue’s rightful owners.”
2011: John Rybicki is scheduled to give the final lecture in a series styled “In Search of Jewish Spirituality” co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia.
2011: Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess were two of the three U.S.-born scientists who won the Nobel Prize in physics today.
2011:The Oakland Hebrew Day School in California has raised $1 million in 10 months to match a grant from an anonymous donor. The $2 million will be used to provide need-based scholarships for students to attend the Modern Orthodox day school, the Bay Area school announced today.
2011:Israel continued to maintain a silence today over a US Congressional decision – despite US Administration opposition - to withhold some $200 million in financial assistance to the PA.
2011: In an apparent effort to keep the most recent Quartet initiative alive, the US embassy circulated a statement today giving the impression both Israel and the Palestinians have equally accepted a Quartet framework for returning to direct talks, though the Palestinians have not yet formally endorsed the idea.
2011(6thof Tishrei, 5772): Eighty-five year old actress Doris Belack passed away months after the death of her husband, Philip Rose best known for producing “A Raisin in the Sun.” (As reported by Paul Vitello)
2011(6thof Tishrei, 5772):Sixty-seven year old Hanan Porat, leader of the “settler movement” in Judea and Samaria, passed away today. (As reported by Ethan Bronner)
2012: In New York City, final scheduled screening at the Lincoln Plaza of “Six Million and One” a documentary by David Fisher, the son of a Holocaust survivor.
2012: The Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation is scheduled to open its Fall Speakers Series which is now in its tenth year with a lecture by Michael O’Hanlon on “Scoring President Obama’s Foreign Policy: Successes and Failures.”
2012: In the UK, The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide is scheduled to present “The Future of the Past - The Importance of School History Teaching,” featuring Dr Nicholas Tate, Chairman of International Education Systems
2012: Klezmer Clarinetist, Mandolinist, Composer and Baal Teshuva Andy Statman performed with the other National Heritage Fellowship Recipients today.
2012:Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has already made a final decision to seek a February 12 election rather than try to pass the 2013 state budget, politicians who spoke to Netanyahu said today.
2012: An Israeli-Arab man, 26, was charged today with spying for the Lebanon-based terror organization Hezbollah. The defendant was accused of scouting IDF locations and tracking the movements of President Shimon Peres for the Islamic militant group.
2013: Marvin Bash who serves as the Rabbi at the Pentagon and his son Jeremy are scheduled to talk about their perspectives on Jewish life in the military at the Benefactor Luncheon hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
2013: The Maccabeats are scheduled to perform at Congregation Beth Tefillah in Paramus, NJ.
2013: At noon “Kol Israel” is scheduled to broadcast “Excellence – The Future Generation” featuring a piano recital by Adi Neuhaus.
2013(30thof Tishrei, 5774): Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan I
2013: Over 100 women in prayer shawls and tefillin prayed in “relative peace” at the Western Wall today on Rosh Chodesh “despited some jeering and spitting from Orthodox female protesters” who apparently have their own way of obeying the commandment about loving your neighbor.
2013: A haredi man was arrested at the Western Wall in Jerusalem this morning for spitting and throwing items at members of the Women of the Wall prayer activist group as ultra-Orthodox protesters shouted insults at the WoW members, Israel Radio reported. Dozens of members of WoW gathered at the wall this morning for their monthly prayer service marking the new month on the Jewish calendar.
2014(10thof Tishrei, 5775): Yom Kippur
G'mar Chasima Tova. Have an easy fast.
2014 All radio and television stations in Israel go off the air for the Day of Atonement.
2014: Tonight, Lewis Black is scheduled to perform at the Mirage in Las Vegas, NV.